Past Films

Leave No Trace

Starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Ben Foster, Jeffery Rifflard

Director: Debra Granik

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: PG

Running Time: 109 min.

Will (Ben Foster) and his teenage daughter, Tom (Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie), have lived off the grid for years in the forests of Portland, Oregon. When their idyllic life is shattered, both are put into social services. After clashing with their new surroundings, Will and Tom set off on a harrowing journey back to their wild homeland.

"Granik films with subtlety and quiet grace, but Leave No Trace explodes in the mind. "

- Bilge Ebiri, Village Voice

"Leave No Trace is a universal, unforgettable experience. "

- tJordan Ruimy, The Playlist

"It’s a testament to the actors and director that it remains riveting throughout. "

- Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press

"Occasionally uplifting and sometimes heartbreaking, it is nothing less than sublime."

- James Berardinelli, ReelViews

"The movie shines a gentle but insistent light on America's underclass and walking wounded, the people in the cracks just getting by.
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- Ty Burr, Boston Globe

"Leave No Trace is further evidence Granik is one of the most talented directors around - and Ben Foster ranks among the finest and most intense actors working today."

- Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

"Debra Granik's drama about a damaged war vet (Ben Foster) living off the grid with his teen daughter, brilliantly played by breakout star Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, is hypnotic, haunting and one of the year's best"

- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

"Leave No Trace is the story of a bond between a teenage daughter and her veteran father, but in the background is another kind of bond, something that keeps the world from spinning apart. That’s Granik’s subject, and Leave No Trace explores it simply but unforgettably. "

- Alissa Wilkinson, Vox

"Granik works simply, but she doesn’t forego artistry. She’s made a film of grace and power, a story of people lost and found in America that often shows us at our noble and humble best. How rare and refreshing that is these days. "

- Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair

"Leave No Trace is, at times, heartbreaking, but it's also filled with glimpses of almost casual human kindness, throwaway moments of good will and inclusion piercing through what could be the bleakest of tales. "

- Sheila O'Malle, RogerEbert.com

"Fiercely involving in a way we're not used to, made with sensitivity and honesty by director/co-writer Debra Granik, it tells its emotional story of a father and daughter living dangerously off the grid in a way that is unnerving and uncompromising yet completely satisfying. "

- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

"In its best moments, Leave No Trace invites you to simply be with its characters, to see and experience the world as they do. Empathy, the movie reminds you, is something that is too little asked of you either in life or in art. Both Mr. Foster’s and Ms. Harcourt McKenzie’s sensitive, tightly checked performances are critical in this regard."